A Marauder Love Story
by James1257
Summary: Imagine the livid face of Lily Evans when she finds out that her vacation in new York will be spent in the company of the one and only, James Potter.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The Potters were a very rich wizarding family, having a past which went on for generations and generations. They were known to have opposed every Dark Lord that rose. The present Potters had but one son who went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was sorted into Gryffindor, like every Potter had been.

The Evans family was a much respected Muggle family. They had two daughters – the older one unknowingly neglected by her parents and her younger one who was liked and loved by all. The younger girl also went to Hogwarts, being a Muggle-born witch, sorted into Gryffindor, thus meeting for the first time the heir of the Potter fortune.

Thus started The Great Story of Lily and James Potter.

**Chapter 1 **

When you like someone and that person doesn't even know that you exist, it pains. What if that same someone knew you and doesn't like you more than just a friend? Or worse, hated you with every fibre of their being? That is the worst place to be. Experiencing the pain of refusal, knowing that the sole reason is _who you are_.

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James Potter, a Casanova at seventeen, sat across his best friend, also a Casanova, going by the name of Sirius Black, on his bed in his room at Potter Manor. Remus Lupin, the sensitive, organised and responsible one of the group, sat next to short, fat and dumb Peter Pettigrew on a sofa in the same room. They were collectively known as the MARAUDERS, pain of all the Slytherins who went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

'Hey, why don't we do something exciting tonight?' asked James.

'You mean prowling around in the night with a werewolf who could _kill you_ is not exciting?' Remus asked incredulously.

'Aw, come on Moony, we don't mind!' Sirius said.

Yesterday had been a full moon and the boys had used the Potters' basement for their activities. Remus was a little more uncontrollable that night, and had almost stepped into the main house. He still had the guilty feel that he could've killed someone.

'And f-f-full moon was yesterday, and we have to wait another month for full moon.' said the smallest of them all, Peter (A/N: Oh, how I hate him!!!)

James flashed him his award-winning smile which made Peter jump. 'See?'

'Hey, James, how about a summer in New York, doesn't your hot cousin Lila live there?' Sirius asked.

'Yeah...' James said thoughtfully. 'Peter?'

'I'm ready for it!' exclaimed the rat.

'Moony?' Sirius directed. Remus frowned thoughtfully. If he didn't go, his friends won't go. The decision remained in his hands. Finally, he accepted defeat.

'Okay, if you're all so excited...'

James smiled. 'Moony, you can't say no to exploring a new passage, how can you say no to exploring a whole new city in a whole new country??'

Remus groaned, wishing he had been a little more sensible in choosing friends.

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Lily Evans opened one emerald eye to look first at her clock, which read 8:15, and then at her mother, who stood, tapping her foot at the end of Lily's bed.

'Mum...' Lily's mouth was already open with grumbles.

'Lily dear, just get ready soon, we have plans for the summer and we would like to discuss them with you and then we can go to the club.' her mum said. Both tall and slim with red hair, Lily and her mother looked like mirror images. Except for the eyes...which were her father's.

As her mother exited the room, Lily sat up in her bed. She picked up a towel and walked to the bathroom to take a quick shower and to brush her teeth.

Lily's room was a feast for human eyes, with books stacked neatly in an organized manner – according to subject and year. Her friends, all of whom had come over yesterday with their parents to Lily's birthday party (1), couldn't understand the point in this tidiness.

Inside the bathroom, she squinted hat her reflection and grimaced. Not a pretty sight at this time of the day, she thought. If Potter saw me in this attire he would forget that he even pursued me. Unknowingly, as Lily brushed her teeth, the thought of the handsome Quidditch captain brought a smile to her features.

Half an hour later, she went down to the kitchen, where her father, a tall, friendly man, and her mother were seated around a table. Bracing herself for what was going to come next, Lily took a seat.

'Mum, you wanted to talk?' Lily asked, addressing her mother, who sat across from lily next to her husband.

'Yes, dear. We plan on visiting Petunia and Vernon, so we'll be away for almost your entire summer.' Mrs. Evans answered.

Lily sighed. Her older sister, Petunia, had gotten married to Vernon Dursley, a big oaf of a man the size of a whale, who worked at Grunnings, a firm which made drills. (2)

'You will be going to your cousin Michael's house in New York, with Nikki, Kristy and Alice.' Mrs. Evans continued.

'You will be leaving tomorrow.' Mr. Evans stated. Lily nodded and went ahead to eat her bacon. This could be a peaceful vacation, she thought.

But unfortunately, the vacation was going to be far from normal. Just wait and see.

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**A/N: Hey all; how was that for a first chapter? A few clarifications:**

**Lily's birthday is January 30****th ****as stated in Deathly Hallows, but her parents hold a party every summer as she goes to a boarding school.**

**Petunia and Vernon live in Ireland, for now, with Vernon's parents. They will move to Privet Drive later.**

**I want to know what you think about this, and the only way is to review. See that cute tiny little blue-grayish button down there? Give it a little push...**

**JAMES1257**


	2. Coincidence?

**Sorry it took so long to get this out; I have exams coming up, so my next update will probably be in March. Sorry!**

**Chapter – 2**

Puzzled? It takes a while to puzzle out the puzzle in the puzzle. A puzzle may have one puzzle, or two puzzles or many puzzles. The puzzler will be puzzled when he tries to puzzle out the number of puzzles in the puzzle which puzzles him. Now, I ask again, PUZZLED?

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'JAMES, GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE! WE HAVE TO LEAVE!!' screamed dark-haired Sirius Black, irritated that his best friend was inside his room, grooming himself like a lady.

James appeared in a minute's time, dressed in a normal red Muggle T-shirt and jeans. As usual, his handsome neatly carved features complimented him in anything, even rags, so he looked positively breath-taking.

Peter jumped up and ran to where his three best friends were assembled in front of the fireplace.

'James, where are your parents?' Remus asked. He didn't know whether James had actually told his parents that the four Gryffindors were leaving for New York.

'Oh, I told them that we were going to New York, so they sent our trunks over there, and they left to work early this morning.' James replied.

Jack and Janice Potter were Aurors. They had to go to work at the most absurd times, but they spent every minute of the much precious spare time with their son.

'Okay, the words are...'James started.

'Prongs, stop it, we don't need dramatics for every single thing!' said Remus, irritated.

'Oh, for this you do!' Sirius said.

Remus rolled his eyes.

Meanwhile, James was busy completing his started sentence 'The "LA" effect'

'The _what _effect?' asked Remus and Peter together. Sirius chuckled.

'James keeps talking about Li_ly_ to Li_la_, so to avoid confusion, Li_la_ is called "LA" and Li_ly_ is just Lily, as Prongs is too scared of her to even try to give her a nickname.' He stated.

Peter chuckled as Sirius reached his break-point and burst into peals of laughter. James blushed. Remus shook his head and grabbed some Floo powder. He stepped into the flames and said 'The LA Effect' clearly and vanished, but not before giving his fellow Marauders a Look.

Sirius shut up (finally) and did the same, closely followed by Peter and James.

As James stepped out of the fireplace, he almost fainted in shock. Lily Evans, Kristin Fowler, Nikkita Chopra (Indian origin, guess whose mother she is!) and Alice Turner were standing right across him, looking as shocked as he felt. He looked around to see his dashing cousin holding hands with an American-looking dude.

'Umm….what's going on here?' he asked, not at all surprised to find that the other Marauders were voicing the same thing.

Lily Evans looked up at the huge building in front of her. This was her cousin, Michael McCrossan's house. He was a wizard too, and he went to Beauxbatons. **(1) **Lily walked up to the door and rang the doorbell.

A boy opened the door. The girls had to keep themselves from drooling, he was so handsome. He was tall, husky, had brown hair and blue eyes which seemed to penetrate into their souls. He looked at Lily and asked 'Lily, right?'

Lily nodded. 'You must be Michael.' After he acknowledged the fact, she asked 'How did you know that it was me?'

'I've seen your mom and my mom's childhood photos. You look a lot like her.'

Lily smiled at that. Michael hit his forehead. 'Where are my manners? Come on in!'

The four girls entered the house. The walls were painted green in colour, and it radiated a feeling o protection, though why, Lily had no clue. Michael led them into the dining room, which had a big table in the middle where a tall brown-haired man and a red-haired lady were sitting. They looked around to see the source of noise.

Mrs. McCrossan stood up first and greeted the girls. 'Well, you must be Lily and Co.!' she said. Lily smiled and nodded. Mr. McCrossan's loud voice boomed from behind them.

'Well, the Hogwarts students are here!'

Michael looked from his father to the girls, with a pained expression on his face. Clearly, the man was embarrassing him. But Mr. McCrossan did not notice this. He walked forward.

'Why don't you brief Michael about Hogwarts, eh? He will be joining for his final year.' He declared.

Lily nodded. 'We would love to…' she trailed off, unsure of what to call him.

'Alfred, just call me Alfred.' The tall man said.

Lily smiled. She liked him already. 'Sure, we would love to tell Michael about Hogwarts, Alfred.'

Michael watched this exchange for a while, and a glance towards his watch a few minutes later told him something.

'Dad, I have to take the girls to meet Lila.' He exclaimed. He looked at the girls. 'My girlfriend-Lila, she lives across the street. She'll be coming to Hogwarts next year too.'

They nodded. 'Sure.'

The five made their way out of the house and back into the street. On the way, Nikki and Kristi started bickering about something and Alice was trying to calm them down. Lily looked apologetically at Michael.

'Sorry, they tend to do this a lot. But don't mind them.'

Michael chuckled and shook his head. They reached another mansion which rivaled the size of Michael's house. Michael nodded to the guard, who let them in quickly.

This house was filled with blue, everywhere, radiating a calmness Lily had come to associate with her mother. As soon as they entered what Lily thought to be a lounge, they saw a tall, slim and pretty girl pacing the room. She looked up to see who had come.

At thre sight of Michael, she bristled.

'WHERE WERE YOU? DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'VE BEEN WAITING?' she thundered before noticing the others and blushing. 'Sorry, I just got a little carried away.'

Lily laughed. Nikki and Alice grinned while introducing themselves.

'I'm Nikkita Chopra, this is Lily Evans…' Nikki started.

'I'm Alice Turner and this is Kristin Fowler.' Alice finished.

Lila nodded. 'Pleased to meet all of you and I'm Lila Potter.'

'Potter?' Lily whispered in shock.

'Lila,' Kristi called. 'Are you related to a certain messy-haired, hazel-eyed James Potter?'

'Yeah, he's my cousin, as in, Dad's Brother's son, why?' Lila asked, confused.

'Well, the same James Potter has made Lily's life hell at Hogwarts, or so she claims.' Kristi said.

'Why, what did James do?' asked Michael.

'He only asks her out about thirteen times a day!' Nikki said.

'And he does not get it into his head that I'm not interested!' Lily said, trying to control her anger.

Realisation dawned on Lila's face. 'So you're _the_ Lily Evans?'

Lily had a blank expression on her face, as did the others.

Michael spoke up. 'James writes to us frequently, and I doubt there has been any letter without the word 'Lily' in it.'

'In fact…' Lila began, but she couldn't complete whatever she was going to say as the fireplace suddenly spouted green flames. A minute later, Remus Lupin stepped out and dusted himself, before looking at the scene in front of him, expecting only Lila and probably Michael. But, as soon as he recognised his classmates, Sirius and Peter stepped out of the fireplace.

Lily looked fearfully at the fireplace, clearly anticipating who was going to step out next. Sirius never went anywhere without James Potter, not since he'd run away from his house.

And then, her worst fears came true.

James stepped out of the flames a second later, and it didn't take him and his friends long enough to asked 'Umm….what's going on here?'

**Close to a cliffhanger, ain't it? Sorry it's a little short, but I wrote this at 10:30 in the night. Also I'd like to thank the reviewers of the previous chapter.**

_**MotherCrumpet**_** – I'll definetly take you up on that deal! And update soon please, I want to read the next chapter of your story soon.**

_**LiiGn3r.aka.MiisSz Co0oKii3**_** – Thanks for reviewing, It's really appreciated!**

_**just.like.jess**_**- Again, thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad that you think that this fic has potential. It kept bugging me for a long time, so I wrote it.**

_**Stinkabhel**_** – Thank you for the complement!**

**To clear some stuff- **

**(1) Lydia Evans McCrossan is Lily's mom's sister. She married Alfred McCrossan, an Auror. They didn't know that Lily was a witch until Michael heard about her in Beauxbatons, where he studies. So, now they all know about each other.**

**I hope you all like this next chapter, and please continue reviewing!**

**JAMES1257**


	3. Twists and Turns

**Chapter – 3**

Lila looked at Michael. This was going to be difficult. Michael gave her a reassuring look and said 'I'll take care of it.'

He turned to the others. 'There is a slight problem here.'

Lily scoffed. 'Slight? Understatement of the year!'

'Yeah, well, James and his friends decided to stay here for the summer and you guys are spending it at my house.' Michael said.

'The entire summer?' Kristi asked.

'Yeah.' Lila nodded.

James snapped out of his daze. 'So, now that we've gotten that figured out, the Marauders need to have a discussion.' He said.

Everyone in the room looked at him incredulously. James was passing up this opportunity to ask Lily out? Something was wrong in the picture. The Marauders walked out of the room.

'Hey, Lily?'

'Yes Lila?'

'Michael and I have to go meet my parents, can you stay here for half an hour? I'll make sure that we come back soon.' Lila said.

'Sure.' Lily turned around to see her friends giving her Looks. 'What?'

Alice walked up to her and said 'Lily, darling, why didn't Potter ask you out?'

'How will I know?' Lily shrugged. 'I don't give a damn anyway.'

Kristi and Nikki clicked their tongues. 'Maybe something to do with what you two talked about in the train before summer began?'

Lily gulped. She was caught. 'Alright, I'll tell you.'

**Flashback**

_James stuck his head into the girls' compartment and asked 'Hey, Evans, can I talk to you for a second?' _

_Lily raised her eyebrows. 'Why do you think that I'll say yes?'_

'_Go, Lils, we'll be right here.' Nikki said._

_Lily sighed and followed James out to an empty compartment. 'What do you want, Potter? I swear, if you ask me out again-' James cut her off._

'_Evans, will you do me a favour and just shut up? You are so frustrating!' James aid._

_Lily bristled. 'Me? You are the arrogant, big-headed prat who called me here to talk!'_

'_You never even tried to see me for who I am! Evans, thinking that you know everything and everyone in this world is going to get you nowhere. You don't know me; you just don't want to accept that I'm not that bad.' James said._

'_YOU ARE SO ARROGANT AND CONCEITED! HELLO, NEWS FLASH, YOU ARE NOT THE KING OF THE WORLD!' Lily screamed._

'_Well then, maybe I made a mistake in falling for you – you can't even sort out your own feelings. If you want it like this, then alright. Forget that I even liked you.' James said before storming out of the door._

**End Flashback**

'Oh, Lils,' Alice sighed. 'Why did you have to scream at him? All he wanted to do was talk to you!'

Nikki nodded. 'Yeah, can't you give him a chance? Hasn't he always shown that he truly cares about you?'

Lily looked at them and scoffed. 'Yeah, right! Like turning my hair green is caring! Or is burning my homework a second before class caring? You guys crack me up!'

Nikki and Alice looked at Kristi, who was being her normal, quiet self. 'What do you think, Kris?'

'Let Lily do what she feels is right.' Kristi replied. When she noticed their shocked looks, she added. 'I mean, you can't force her into anything! She will eventually figure out for herself that she is in love with James.'

Lily glared at Kristi. 'Not you too! You were the only sane one here!'

Kristi smiled sadly. 'Lils, you don't know how lucky you are that the person you love loves you back.'

'I DON'T LOVE HIM!!!' Lily screamed. A second later, she noticed Kristi's teary eyes. She looked around at Nikki and Alice, and then moved forward to hug her best friend.

Lily and Kristi were closer to each other than Nikki and Alice. Kristi was pure-blood, and was from one of the most influential families in the wizarding world. In fact, she was descended from Rowena Ravenclaw herself. Unfortunately, her father, a Muggle-hater, had married another Muggle-hater after her mother's death. They had two sons – Liam and Josh - who were five years younger than Kristi. She was abused at home, and her father wanted her to join the Death Eaters, just like Sirius' parents. In fact, she and Sirius were childhood friends, and they related to each other as they were both the black sheep of their respective families.

'What happened?' Nikki asked, breaking the silence.

'They've fixed my engagement with…' Kristi broke down into tears.

'Shh..' Lily soothed her friend.

Alice placed her arm on Kristi, and forced her to look up. 'Who?' she asked simply.

Kristi sniffed. 'Drake Black, Sirius' older brother, He joined the Death Eaters in spring.'

'James! Where are you taking us?!?' Remus demanded, irritated, as James led the through a series of stairs and corridors. He finally stopped at a door and pushed it open.

The room was magnificent. It was green in colour, and had a king-sized bed in the middle. There was a desk on the side, complete with writing requirements. The closet was open, and it was obviously a walk-in closet. The ceiling was enchanted to look like outer space, and there were photos of James and Lila on the walls.

'Whoa…' Peter said as he took in the beauty of the room.

'James, why did you pull us away like that?' Remus asked.

'Yeah, I wanted to speak to Kristi, I haven't seen her since the last day!' Sirius mumbled.

'Whoa…' Peter repeated, after he realised that he was expected to say something.

James sat on the bed and his friend sat next to him, crowding around as they did in Hogwarts. The current attention-holder put his head in his hands. 'She hates me…' he said silently. The others understood that he was talking about Lily.

'No, mate, she's just as smitten with you as you are with her, she'll realise soon enough.' Sirius consoled.

James looked at him hopefully while Remus and Peter looked at him like he was an alien. Sirius ignored the looks as long as he could (read 1 second) before snapping.

'WHAT? I'M NOT A BLOODY ALIEN! WHY ARE YOU STARING LIKE THAT?'

Remus shook his head. 'Sirius, don't you think James will be even more disappointed if what you said wasn't true? I mean, come on, see how Lily has acted around him for the past six years. Do you honestly think that she'll fall in love with him?'

Peter just sat there. _What are they talking about? Oh, forget it, I'll just do what I do best, look confused._ And he did just that.

'She's already in love with him, Moony.' Sirius said, quietly.

James put his head on the pillow, shifting his position so that he was lying down. 'She isn't.'

Sirius hit his best friend on the head. 'Stop being so pessimistic!'

Remus looked at Sirius. 'Si, sorry to break this to you, but James has always been optimistic about Lily. It's time he came back to the real world, even when Dreamland is more satisfying!'

'Guys, why don't you notice it? Lily laughs at his jokes, albeit discreetly! She stares at him in Transfiguration, I've noticed it because you and James sit in front of her with me and Peter behind her. She blushes when he asks her out, even though it's only for a nanosecond. And there's lots more to the list, which I will not go over right now.' Sirius blurted out. 'Oops.'

Remus narrowed his eyes. 'Si, what's wrong?'

'I promised Kris that I won't tell James. But,' he turned to the subject of their conversation. 'James, believe me! Kris has noticed and so have I! Don't give up yet. Try to be her friend first, and don't ask her out at all.'

James closed his eyes. 'Okay, Pads, but if you're wrong, I swear I'll take you off my will!' he said.

Sirius and Remus laughed. 'You won't have to.' The former assured.

'So,' James began, desperate for a change of subject. 'What about you and Miss. Fowler, eh?'

Sirius turned a light shade of pink. 'Nothing. We're just friends.'

'Yeah, right. Do you really expect us to believe that?' James asked.

'Um, yes?' Sirius replied, uncertainly.

Remus threw his head back and laughed, joined a minute later by James. 'Si, you are so comic when you like a girl!' Remus managed to splutter before breaking into peals of laughter again.

Sirius gave them a glare.

James ignored it, and began dreaming about an auburn-haired girl.

Remus glared back at Sirius, before he could hold himself no longer and started chuckling.

Peter sat there, well, looking confused.

**Hey, guys! I know that I said that I'll be updating only in March, but I had my Maths exam today and I did really well!! So I gave myself a break and wrote this. I have Science on Monday, so I still have two days to study. I'll try to update sooner, but my Board Exams get over only on March 26, so it'll be tough.**

**And, my reason for Michael and Lila going to Beauxbatons is that wizards don't choose their schools, the schools choose the students. Or that's how it is in my story, anyway. Sorry for the confusion.**

**And last but not the least, I GOT TEN REVIEWS FOR THE LAST CHAPTER!! YAY!!! Will you be dears and continue reviewing? It's not very difficult…**

**NEXT ON **_**"A MARAUDER LOVE STORY" :**_

**Who is Liam Black? **

**Till next time,**

**James1257**


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